Two people from afar have sex and reproduce; can this virtual reality come to pass?
In the future, sexual contact between male and female human beings at a distance to each other, aided by man-made apparatus and an interactive Virtual Reality (VR) process, could be complete as a physiological process on the actual level - and could lead to reproduction - whilst being sensually and emotionally fulfilling on the virtual level.

Let us see how a sophisticated cybersex arrangement might work.

On the female side, there is an artificial male mouth (lips, teeth, tongue, saliva, etc) and an artificial male genitalia, both imitating male flesh as closely as possible, but planted with micro-sensors all over the surface, and moved by motors connected to the computer (the engine). The penis should be able to be in states of arousal and non-arousal and somewhere in between, and can ejaculate semen-like stuff at the right moment.

On the male side, there is an artificial female mouth, and an artificial female vagina, both planted with highly sensitive micro-sensors, and moved by motors connected to his computer. As for the sense of touch from other parts of the body such as breasts and hands, regular VR clothing will do its job there as usual.

Now what would happen when a sexual encounter happens between a female and a male partner? We can, if we choose to, describe the process separately on two levels, the virtual/experiential and the physical. But in order to see the immediate correspondence between the two, I will choose a mixed discourse of the virtual and the physical in my description as follows.

Let's call the female Mary and the male Paul. In the virtual world they meet for the first time here in a concert hall. Jaron Lanier, the Lord of VR, will play his 'Music of Changes'. Mary and Paul are seated next to each other and do not know each other. As soon as Jaron begins to play, Mary and Paul immediately feel a sort of synergy going on between them in the way they respond to the music.

Now it is time for an intermission. They begin to have a conversation about the music and Jaron, and very soon romance begins: during the second half of the concert, they hold and squeeze each other's hands following the ups and downs of the music.

Now the concert is over. As soon as they step out of the concert hall, their passion bursts out like a storm. They manage to set up a private room on the spot (assuming they can do that in the virtual world), and their lips and tongues begin to explore and attack each other furiously and their naked bodies intertwine and struggle like a hurricane. As their mutual stimulation escalates to the peak, they are ready for the intercourse. "Mary, you are my dream," Paul gasps; "You are my reality, Paul," Mary murmurs in return, as their bodies begin to move back and forth in a harmonious rhythm. Finally, as Paul pours his passion with an explosive ejaculation, Mary screams with an implosive contraction.

For all the alleged physical and emotional intensity, we have not forgotten the fact that Mary and Paul are only having intercourse in the virtual world. On the physical level, the lips, the tongues, the saliva, the genitalia, etc., are all artificial surrogates on the receiver's side. How, on the one hand, can the artificial organs expand and contract and move, etc, in exact correspondence with the real in a remote place? And how, on the other hand, the biological process of procreation can be carried out in addition to the fulfilment of the sexual desire and emotional needs of both partners?

Keep in mind, as all other parts of the VR outfit, these artificial sex organs are not only stimulators, but also sensors at the same time. So when Paul inserts his erect penis into the artificial vagina, for example, the opening of the artificial vagina immediately responds and measures the size and the shape of the penis. The information will be transformed and transmitted to Mary's facility and the artificial penis will be inserted into her vagina almost at the same moment, and its size be adjusted accordingly to imitate Paul's as precisely as possible. As the same time, the artificial penis will measure Mary's vagina in a similar way, and the information will be transmitted and used to adjust the artificial vagina Paul is dealing with. Of course, the back and forth movement will be controlled in a similar fashion.

Because this is a real-time dynamic process that keeps going from the beginning to the end of the sexual encounter, the described rhythmic co-ordination will be felt just like an actual encounter in the physical world.

Now we have to deal with the tough, but the most important, issue, that is, how Paul's sperm can be ejaculated into Mary's vagina in such a process if they want to have a child. As we know, since Paul and Mary are far apart physically, what Mary feels ejaculated into her vagina cannot possibly be the same thing as what Paul ejaculates at that moment. Therefore, their first affair after the concert cannot lead to Mary's pregnancy by Paul's sperm. But Paul's semen is nevertheless ejaculated into the artificial vagina. Also we know another fact: sperm can be kept alive outside the human body as proved by sperm banks.

So now if Mary and Paul decide to have a child after their first intercourse, they can have Paul's sperm transported to Mary's place, for it be ejaculated from the artificial penis next time they make love, and so on and so forth. Or, if they prefer, they can utilise the technique of artificial insemination so as to separate reproductive process from sexual intercourse totally. In such a case, Mary may choose any semen-like milky liquid or whatever she likes as the substitute semen to be ejaculated into her vagina during the intercourse. She can even choose to use another man's semen to get herself pregnant when she has cybersex with Paul, if Paul has no legitimate reason for objection. The last option is that they actually travel to meet and have intercourse physically and put away the artificial sex organs while still being totally perceptually immersed in VR.

Therefore, we can just understand reproduction through cybersex as a special case of the combination between the process of interaction between participants and that of manipulation of the physical process from cyberspace. Michael Heim in his "The Metaphysics of Virtual Reality" has a very stimulating discussion of what he calls "the erotic ontology of cyberspace". As he understands Eros as a drive to extend our finite being, he can indeed do justice to his sensational presentation of Virtual Reality as fundamentally erotic. Here, we have also seen how our love affair with VR must reach its pinnacle when cybersex becomes a necessary part of our virtual engagement.